Walter Friedrich Pluedemann was born on Friday, 27 February 1903 in Butterfield, Minnesota. He was the fourth child of Nathalie Elizabeth Eberlein and Gustav Carl Georg Plüdeman. Nathalie and Gus both were from Shawano County, Wisconsin, where they married in 1892 in a double wedding that also involved Gus’s sister, Emilia Pluedemann, and Natalie’s first cousin, Wilhelm Lorenz Schenk.

Walter had two older sisters, Edna and Eunice; a third child had died as an infant before 1900.

Little is known about Walter’s childhood, but the following photo survives in the Eberlein collection.

It was taken by a photographic studio in Montrose, South Dakota, where the Pluedemann family lived in  September 1906, when Natalie’s mother, Katherine (Gerner) Eberlein died. Perhaps Natalie carried this photo home when she traveled East to Shawano, Wisconsin to visit her mother.

In 1920, Walter appears in the federal census, age 16, and living with his parents on Fuller Street in Spenser, McCook County, South Dakota. He was both attending school and working; the census lists his occupation as “Warehouse man.” Walter’s father, Gus, was listed as an “Agent,” presumably for the railroad. (Gus worked for the railroad throughout all of his life.)

In 1924, Walter appears in the city directory for Mankato, Blue Earth County, Montana, where he is working as a bookkeeper for the National Bank of Commerce. Perhaps Walter moved to Mankato to take classes at the Mankato Commercial College, as he offered a glowing testimonial in its 1925 catalog.

In 1925, Walter (age 22) met and married Edna Almira Lawman (19). Edna was from De Smet, South Dakota, the daughter of Wesley Lawman and Anna Forsberg.

Walter and Edna had a daughter, La Vonne Mae Pluedemann. La Vonne was born on 12 July 1926 in Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minnesota.

On 11 April 1930, when Anna M Morris, census worker, came knocking on their door, the Pluedemann family was living in a rented house at 409 South Front Street in Mankato. Walter listed his occupation as assistant manager of a five and dime store.

Argus-Leader, Friday, 18 April 1930: page 22.

On 14 April 1930, however, Edna Almira (Lawman) Pluedemann died from scarlet fever. She was buried in De Smet, South Dakota, and the minister of the American Lutheran church there used John 11:28 as the text for his sermon.

Little is known about Walter Friedrich Pluedemann over the next few years. His daughter La Vonne went to live with her grandparents, spending summers with the Lawmans in De Smet, South Dakota, and winters with the Pluedemanns in Spenser, South Dakota. Family lore passed down from La Vonne Pluedemann says that Walter traveled extensively.

In 1933, Walter appears in the city directory for Billings, Montana, where he is listed as assistant manager, most probably for F W Woolworths. He remained in Montana for the next eight years, living in Havre and Missoula, and working as the manager for the F W Woolworth stores.

On 07 September 1934 , Walter married Doris Edna Crumb in Chinook, Blaine County, Montana. A notice of the marriage license in the local newspaper lists Walter’s residence as Havre, Montana and Doris Crumb’s residence as Omaha, Nebraska.

In her teens, La Vonne Mae Pluedemann returned to live with Walter and Doris in order to attend high school. She was on the honor roll her freshman year at the high school in Missoula, Montana.

In 1942, the Pluedemann family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. Perhaps the impetus for the move was to be closer to Doris’s family, since she was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Geraldine Rae Pluedeman, in June 1942. Two years later, on 15 February 1944, Michael Walter Pluedeman was born.

In 1944, La Vonne was graduated with honors from North high school in Omaha. She was living at 2203 Lothrop and working as a saleswoman at Northrup Jones in 1945, when she met Leo McNulty, a student at Creighton University.

The Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), Sunday, 16 June 1946: page 16.

In 1946, Walter announces La Vonne’s engagement and marriage to Leo McNulty. Leo was from a large and vibrant Irish Catholic family in Butte, Montana, and according to information relayed from the husband of one of La Vonne’s daughters, his religion caused a breach in family relationships. The Pluedemanns were, perhaps, strict Missouri Synod Lutheran. Although La Vonne was warmly adopted by the McNulty clan, the early loss of her mother and the later estrangement from her family was a source of pain for her.

Walter and Doris Pluedemann remained in Omaha, Nebraska for the rest of their lives. They lived at 1812 Vinton, and Walter managed a variety store at 1810 Vinton. In 1951, Walter received national attention when a news story about a burglar in the variety store was picked up by the AP Press.

Walter Friedrich Pluedemann died in March 1977 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Doris Edna (Crumb) Pluedemann died on 10 April 2007 in Omaha, Nebraska.